The instant invention is an improvement on the process disclosed in our Pat. application Ser. No. 107,063, filed Jan. 18, 1971 and since abandoned.
Honeycomb cored structural parts are generally made in steps of first adhering a reinforced material to the upper and lower surfaces of the honeycomb and then fastening an adhering cover to the edges. This additional step required to cover the edges is both expensive and a potential source of difficulties.
Completely covering a core material with a structurally reinforced resin and molding in a normal compression mold is time consuming and expensive. First the core is prepared properly undersized and next the covering material is built up to give just the right amount of material to fill the mold without having an excess. Care and experience is required to lay-up the part properly to prevent voids in some areas and excess in others; which may require rejection of the part or the voids may require filling and or the excess may require grinding, all of which is expensive. The problem is increased when the part has compound curves. One way to ease the problem is to increase molding pressures to even out a lack or an excess of cover material, but pressure also adds to the cost and it is often not the answer.